Pizza Bob’s: Hawaiian Pizza Fail

PLEASE NOTE: THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS NO LONGER IN BUSINESS. I wouldn’t normally review a place like Pizza Bob’s. It’s an unassuming, un-tasty, nothing-to-write-home-about pizzeria on Oahu’s North Shore. But it was the only “Hawaiian” style pizza I had on a recent trip to Hawaii. Plus, from what I can tell, it’s the ONLY pizza place …

Review Overview

Overall Experience - 2.1

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2.1

Summary : An uninspiring pizzeria in the surf town of Haleiwa. There aren't many other pizza places around, but this one was certainly a miss.

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PLEASE NOTE: THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS NO LONGER IN BUSINESS.

I wouldn’t normally review a place like Pizza Bob’s. It’s an unassuming, un-tasty, nothing-to-write-home-about pizzeria on Oahu’s North Shore. But it was the only “Hawaiian” style pizza I had on a recent trip to Hawaii. Plus, from what I can tell, it’s the ONLY pizza place in the town of Haleiwa — a popular tourist destination.

If you’re visiting Haleiwa and are craving pizza… and are currently reading this post, do yourself a favor and suppress that craving. Or more specifically, spare yourself a visit to Pizza Bob’s (66-145 Kamehameha Highway).

My first pizza experience in Oahu was at Agostino’s in Waikiki. I didn’t love their pizza, but it was delicious compared with what we were served at Pizza Bob’s. How I ended up their in the first place is a bit of a story. My girlfriend and I spent two nights outside of Haleiwa and on our first night we had fantastic burgers at Kua-Aina (highly recommended!). Our second night there we were planning on going to Opal Thai — a very well regarded Thai restaurant in town. But when we arrived, there was a sign on the door that they were closed for summer vacation.

Now there aren’t a whole lot of dining establishments in Haleiwa and many of them close early. So our options were limited. Pizza Bob’s was right around the corner and with three stars on Yelp and a 6.1/10 rating on Foursquare, it seemed like a feasible option. The service was fine. And the atmosphere was decent (it was almost completely empty, although they have a nice outdoor seating area). Even the salad we had was enjoyable enough.

But the pizza… wow! The crust tasted like the dough was borrowed from Pizza Hut or Domino’s. The sauce was uninspiring. And the cheese was overwhelming. It was impossible to pick up a slice without a load of cheese sliding off of it. And if you managed to keep any cheese on the slice, it was as gooey as I’ve ever seen. This made for an overall unpleasant experience.

We ordered half the pie with pineapples, a topping I don’t usually condone putting on pizza. But we were in Hawaii. And I figured if not here… then where? The pineapple didn’t add much to the pie. There was so much cheese, honestly it was difficult to even taste the pineapple. If you glanced quickly at the photos above you probably didn’t even notice there was pineapple on the pies.

If you live in Haleiwa — or are visiting there for an extended period of time — I’m not really sure where you’ll find better pizza in the area. Maybe it’s worth making some at home. Or better yet, swing by Opal Thai when they are not closed for vacation and let me know how it is!

About I Dream Of Pizza

Some guys dream about winning the Powerball jackpot, making love to Kate Upton, or scoring the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. But personally, I spend most of my time dreaming about digging my face into a mouth watering slice of pizza. Fireworks are ignited. Music comes out of nowhere. And just like that, I’ve fallen in love once again. Since 2008, I've chronicled my pizza eating adventures in New York City and around the world on I Dream Of Pizza -- the web's most popular blog dedicated entirely to pizza.